Author
Topic: TRU Exclusive Clones! (Read 6098 times)

The only positive to that rumor is that if it is the 3-pack I can ignore looking for it too hard... I've cut deluxe sets out as something I have to have all of, and those Clone 3-packs absolutely blow in my opinion.

$10 for a lack in overall quality to get basically 1 more figure than you would if you bought these as all "basic" poseable figures is not a fair trade-off in my eyes. Gimme 3 SA figures. You have all the molds tooled for grunts, so it's the only thing I feel is worth buying at this point... I'm with Jared though in waiting for some confirmation on this, but if it holds true to the current word, I'll just have money for other **** I actually have interest in buying.

3. I already have red, blue, and orange paint color schemes thanks to customizing. That's not to say I wouldn't buy these if A) They were the clone 6 or 41 sculpt or B) I saw them at retail which will never happen anyhow.

4 Gotta love the army building exclusive. Thanks to the way the 12.99 Target clone was ripped off the pegs, you can count on this "exclusive" ****** deluxe 3 pack selling in excess of $20, something I've been leaving on the pegs at $10.

What I find funny is army building exclusives at all... Exclusives, by their nature, generally are a shorter production run than basic run items, so really it seems like a shot in the foot in the long-run as far as profitability... If you can sell more, shouldn't you try?

Price on these could be anywhere but just because the Target Clone was overpriced doesn't necessarilly mean these will be... Look at the 4-packs from a while back, they weren't really poorly priced for what you got, they were just piss-poor sets... A deluxe-sized exclusive is sort of new, so where it falls price-wise is anyone's guess... Same with production runs though, these could be made in droves, and they could really actually sit.

I recall the Clone Wars 3-packs actually getting to a point where they didn't fly off the pegs, at least where I live, and even some were found when TRU finally clearanced Clone Wars Deluxe. I still regret passing that Spider Droid and the 3-packs I saw sit on sale for $8 since they'd have made good trade bait, and I'd kinda like having the Spider Droid now. Live and learn.

It's a SA 3-pk in the $15-$20 range, then I think we will all be happy. Chances are though it won't be... but hey, who knows? They could pack it like the "Evolution" sets and be a $20 set that is well done. You never know...

If it's the regular deluxe, I'll probably pass too, unless the paint jobs are very good. I've seen a ton of the regular deluxe Clone 3-pks at Walmart and Target lately, and they all have terrible paint jobs. The visor area is a black smudge that is smeared all over the helmet. Looks like a blind man tried to paint them with his foot.

I am with CHEWIE, I would buy the three pack if they were to make them with the same packageing and articulation as the evolution sets. But with the way hasbro has been doing things I really would not hope to much.

My guess will be that these are going to be specially painted Deluxe Three-Packs. My guess is that TRU will get cases of six (2 of each color) sets.

The more sensible way to go (since they could still get mileage out of the #41 clone) would be to use the dye-cut for the evolutions packaging, develop generic clone artwork (like they did for the four EE SA clone packs) and then have the three sets packaged EXACTLY like the Evolutions sets.

Logged

Peter

Letting my collecting OCD get the better of me on a DAILY basis... and loving EVERY minute of it!

What I find funny is army building exclusives at all... Exclusives, by their nature, generally are a shorter production run than basic run items, so really it seems like a shot in the foot in the long-run as far as profitability... If you can sell more, shouldn't you try?

Yeah, to us laymen this seems like a big ol' DUH.... Clonetrooper action figures are a license to print money, so why not milk it for as much as you can?

What I find funny is army building exclusives at all... Exclusives, by their nature, generally are a shorter production run than basic run items, so really it seems like a shot in the foot in the long-run as far as profitability... If you can sell more, shouldn't you try?

Yeah, to us laymen this seems like a big ol' DUH.... Clonetrooper action figures are a license to print money, so why not milk it for as much as you can?

Buzz. You don't get buzz without shorting the supply.

Sadly no toy retailer seems to get the idea that chase figures really don't do much for the line overall. I think the Simpsons WOS line handled it best. No figure was ever hard to get - GITDH, Cooder and Sinclair, any of the mail aways or exclusives could simply be ordered by meeting minimum conditions (like upc's). No restrictions based on fanclubs or the like. But they became immensely popular and sought after, good $$ on the secondary market. Largely without massively pissing people off. [/soapbox]

The best Idea I've heard on this so far is the thought of these being 3 SA Clones in an Evolutions style box (hopefully with the right gear and stuff)... I hadn't even considered the Evolutions boxes as really being made for 3 figures and stuff...

That's ideal thinking, unless you consider ideal to be the 3 SA guys in a small package (with just rifles)... I'd love that Evolutions sort of idea, but not under the Evolutions title. That'd be rather neat.

I would put money (my usual shiny nickel) on these being more repaints of the Deluxe 3-pack Clones. Why?

1. Hasbro always takes the easiest and cheapest road when it comes to exclusives. 90% of the exclusives these last few years have been repaints or slight retoolings of previously released items (at least in the 4" line) and I don't think this will be any different. It's easier and cheaper for them to simply repaint the three pack Clones than it is to come up with all new packaging for a three pack of SA Clones with new paint schemes.

2. If the idea of a SA Clone body being used for a special three pack was actually floated by Hasbro, TRU probably balked at it, since they couldn't understand how three of the same exact figure in a box would sell that well. Then Hasbro told them they could have the cheaper three pack, but it would have three different poses. TRU probably jumped at this idea, not realizing that while it offered more "variety" to the uninformed consumer, it probably cut their sales (and repeat sales of the same item) in half, if not more.

3. (Conspiracy theory): Hasbro is putting these out there so they don't have to do them again in the future. This way, they can say, "We already did those and they didn't sell to well, buy the 400th Luke/Han/Vader instead" when someone asks them to do regular carded versions of the three different paint schemes.

Everybody tells me I'm a pessimist and a cynic, and I admit this is true, but it's hard to be truly disappointed when you always expect the worst. When it comes to Hasbro, that is what I have come to always expect.

I still don't understand why these are exclusives. Ok, I get that Hasbro/TRU can crank the price, knowing we'll buy these, but they also know that any clone, whatever the color, is like money in the bank. Would you want 50,000 of them out there, or 100,000? More? These colors would sell forever as part of any future assortment.